BuddyPress.org

Basically, I need to create a sub-profile system that allows users to create a sub-profile for automobiles. These profiles will have content attached – like blogs, photos, videos, custom profile fields, status updates, etc. They need to be set up so other members can “like” them, follow them, subscribe to them, share them, comment on them, etc. They will be the basis for the site.

I found this thread which touches on what I’m trying to do with my project:
http://buddypress.org/support/topic/duplicate-group-components-multiple-group-types/

The thread I linked to above talks about cloning the Groups plugin and modifying it so that essentially a Group becomes an Automobile. That makes sense in that Groups already has built in functionality to support much of what I need, including:

– Ability for users to follow the vehicle (change members to followers)
– A blog for the vehicle (using group blog)
– Easy interface for users to manage their vehicles, I could quickly create admin pages for specifics (a page to specify capabilities, like range and speed, which would be used in the group listing page to filter vehicles)
– If a vehicle were a race team project, multiple “owners” could be specified.
– I could use a task management plugin for vehicles

I was planning on contacting @fordp who posted in that thread but it doesn’t look like he’s accepting messages – or maybe it’s just my inexperience with BP, as I don’t see a way to contact him directly to message him like you do on conventional forum sites.

I shared my project with Boone Gorges via email and he mentioned a simpler approach might be looking into “group types” – can’t find any info on that in the Plugins, Documentation, or Support Forums. Can someone help guide me in the right direction for that or explain what he might have been referring to?

Just looking for some help here. I had originally planned to go with phpFox because it looked like I could achieve what I explained above with a few plugins and some modifications. I had a pretty good idea on how to get there. But the up front investment scares me, as well as the negative reviews of the codebase. And I’ve grown very tired of using vBulletin for my community sites over the years. I’d really like to make this work in Buddypress, just need some help figuring out how I might go about doing so in order to get started and have a clear picture of what it will take.